Azlan reads out his statement at the press conference on March 8, 2013. — Picture by Md IzwanKUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — The father of Saiful Bukhari Azlan publicly admitted today that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy charge was an “evil political conspiracy” involving his son.

In a heavily-guarded press conference here, the 60-year-old Azlan Mohd Lazim alleged that the conspiracy was planned by a special officer in the Prime Minister’s Department and was engineered to tarnish Anwar’s image with another sodomy charge, the opposition leader’s second since he lost his post in government in 1998.

Azlan, who was not with his son at the press conference called by PKR’s Johari Abdul, apologised to Anwar and his family over the incident, admitting the episode had put them through much pain and suffering.

“It was a political conspiracy to charge Anwar for the second time. I apologise to Anwar and his family,” he said.

On January 9 last year, the High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar of sodomising Mohd Saiful, 27, at a Desa Damansara condominium unit in Bukit Damansara here between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

Anwar, 65, was charged under section 377B of the Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.